Orientation for new readers regarding the underlying research and data for this blog
Despite denials, Egypt building a containment area for Gaza refugees
Source: Maxar
Will Egypt accept Palestinian displacement in exchange for debt relief?
As the conflict grows in both ferocity and breadth, it has become evident that for many Arab leaders, the Palestinian cause has become a secondary concern, if not a burdensome inconvenience. Arab states that normalized relations with Israel in 2020 – such as the UAE, Bahrain, Morocco, and Sudan – currently view Palestine as an obstacle to their diplomatic flexibility. …
Egypt has begun constructing a closed zone on its border with Gaza – ostensibly aimed at sheltering Palestinians fleeing the … Israeli attack on Rafah. …
There is little doubt that the mass displacement of Palestinians poses a threat to Egypt's national security in the long term. Still, the Saudis and Emiratis appear to be prioritizing this Israeli objective, and so Egypt faces a dilemma:
Either continue to reject displacement or accept a mass exodus to Sinai – even temporarily – in exchange for economic incentives that include offsetting a major part of its accumulated debt, which also threatens the Egyptian economy significantly and, by extension, its social cohesion.
Cairo has been complicit in Israel's blockade of Gaza since 2007 and has played an active role in countering Palestinian resistance by flooding tunnels connecting the Strip to Sinai. …
… information has surfaced that the two Gulf states' (Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia) offers to Egypt now tie the displacement of Gazans to a proposal to alleviate Cairo's staggering debt burden. The reported US offer to wipe out $160 billion of Egyptian debt in exchange for hosting 100,000 Gazan refugees has a dangerous historical precedent. In 1991, Washington forgave Egypt's debt in return for its support of the US-led coalition against Iraq.
The biggest threat and challenge to Egypt from this influx is identifying the armed radical Islamic fundamentalists from Hamas, Hezb’Allah, and the Islamic Jihad.
Ex-FBI informant who allegedly lied about the Bidens will remain behind bars, judge rules
A former FBI informant accused of lying about President Joe Biden and his son Hunter’s dealings with the Ukrainian energy company Burisma will remain behind bars, a federal judge in Los Angeles ruled Monday.Smirnov, 43, was charged Feb. 14 with falsely telling his longtime FBI handler that an executive at Burisma had arranged for payments of $5 million each to Biden and his son. Smirnov’s accusations, made public this summer by Republican lawmakers with the release of internal FBI records documenting his claims, have become a central element of the push to impeach Biden and tar his family with corruption allegations. …
During the hearing Monday, Smirnov pleaded not guilty to both charges.
Given the documents that have already been made public, as well as corroborating testimony from other sources, the FBI and the judiciary have incarcerated this witness in an attempt to prevent Biden’s impeachment for violation of the Emoluments clause of the Constitution.
Ukraine enters third year of war as stalled aid dims outlook
As the Kremlin’s full-scale war on Ukraine entered a third year with no end in sight Russia is gaining momentum, exploiting Kyiv’s deficit of ammunition, shortage of troops and delays in receiving military aid. …
U.S. financial support, a crucial lifeline for the Ukrainian military’s ability to keep up the fight, faces formidable obstacles in the Republican-led House of Representatives, even after a joint $95 billion package for Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan cleared the Senate after months of delay.
With additional U.S. help in the balance, EU nations have stepped in with a new 50 billion euro ($54 billion) aid package and a stream of military shipments.
Despite the holdup of capital from the US Congress, the EU continues to fund and arm Ukraine. We have no expectation that the financiers who control the US, UK, and EU will withdraw from their war against Russia, because this is a battle for influence over the EU.
Conflict With NATO Inevitable if Western Troops Go to Ukraine
On Tuesday, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said that a conflict between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will be inevitable if European countries involve their troops directly in the Ukrainian conflict. …
During a meeting on Ukraine in Paris on Monday, Macron said European countries face the "strategic need" to defeat Russia. To achieve this objective, the French president did not rule out the option of sending troops to Ukraine.
Given the pushback on the Biden administration’s proposed use of US troops in Ukraine, the cartel is forced to use mercenaries from all over the globe. Whether Macron’s offer would hold up against French protests is questionable—but there is a growing list of NATO members from where canon fodder could be drafted.
Italy Announces Bilateral Security Deal With Ukraine
The security partnership with a 10-year mandate between Rome and Kiev includes cooperation in defense, economy, infrastructure and energy, and humanitarian support, among other fields.
Hungarian Parliament Approves Sweden's NATO Bid
"The Swedish-Hungarian military cooperation and Sweden's NATO accession strengthen Hungary's security," Hungary's Prime Minister Viktor Orban said before the agenda of the parliament.
Elod Novak of the opposition party Our Homeland was one of the six MPs who voted against it. "Let's veto Sweden's NATO accession," he said before the vote, urging the MPs to "veto the path that leads to World War III."
As the US imperialist wars expand around the globe, the interest in serving in its armed forces is evaporating.
24,000 US Army positions cut amid recruitment woes
The Department of Defense previously reported that the Army, Navy, and Air Force fell short of their recruitment goals for Fiscal Year 2023, which ended in September. While the Army gained over 50,000 recruits, it was well short of its goal of 65,000 new recruits. According to The Associated Press, the Army also missed its Fiscal Year 2022 recruitment goal by roughly 15,000 troops.
Attacks on religious groups and by religious groups are increasing
While some of increase in anti-semitism is attributable to daily propaganda regarding the invasion of Hamas and the Israeli response, a significant percentage of attacks are a result of other causes.
Report shows 58% rise in antisemitic events globally in 2023
The group Combat Antisemitism Movement, through their Antisemitism Research Center, says they recorded 3,046 incidents of antisemitism globally last year, up 58.2% from 2022, when the group says they recorded 1,925 incidents. …
According to the report, when the thousands of antisemitic events that occurred in 2023 are examined, analysis showed 1,021 incidents caused by “far-right sources” and 1,019 caused by the “far left.”
Another 571 incidents, or 18.7% of occurrences, were separately classified as “Islamist incidents” and 435, or 14.3%, were categorized as “unattributable, indicating unclear motivations of the perpetrators.”
Anti-Christian threats and violence in the US have risen 800% since 2018, new report finds
The report found that there were at least 436 acts of vandalism, arson attempts, bomb threats, gun-related incidents, graffiti, and other acts of hostility in the first 11 months of 2023 across 48 states plus the District of Columbia, which was more than twice the amount as the year before. The real number was “undoubtedly much higher,” however, because many “are likely not reported to authorities and/or are not featured in the news or other online sources from which we collected data.”
The latest tally represents an 800% rise from the mere 50 documented in 2018.
Jacob Rothschild’s death will not affect the operation of the Anglo-Euro-American banking cartel
The Federal Reserve Cartel- The Eight Families
Meanwhile, in fascist California:
Judge blocks California law targeting suppliers of ‘abnormally dangerous’ firearms
U.S. District Judge Andrew G. Schopler found the “abnormally dangerous” provisions of the state’s Firearm Industry Responsibility Act, which Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law in July 2022, likely violated constitutional law around interstate commerce. He granted a preliminary injunction barring the state from enforcing those provisions while litigation proceeds, as requested by the industry group suing the state.
The law had defined “abnormally dangerous” weapons as having special features making them more suitable for “assaultive purposes” rather than recreation or self-defense. The law also targeted guns designed or marketed in ways that “foreseeably” promote illegal conversion into a fully-automatic weapon, along with other products marketed to minors or other people prohibited from legally possessing firearms.
Schopler, a President Biden appointee, denied the National Shooting Sports Foundation’s request to block other provisions of the law that require manufacturers and sellers to implement “reasonable controls” around gun safety and to avoid unfair business practices. Those portions of the law were left intact and remain enforceable.
Gavin Newsom sued over policy forcing teachers to lie to parents about students’ gender confusion
Two teachers have added the governor and attorney general of California to a lawsuit. The suit claims that state policies have forced educators to lie to parents by hiding the transgender status of their children from them.
Google created an AI tool to rip off news outlets, and it's paying other outlets to use it
What this tool is marking as “most accurate” seems to be exactly what would have earned most students an F on a sixth-grade essay, and gotten journalists fired across the ages. If Adweek’s description is accurate, then Google’s tool is a “plagiarism first, original writing last” system. Considering Google’s recent experience, maybe this is meant to cut down on mistakes generated by their AI model.
The nonprofit Poynter Institute reports that 2023 was the worst year for the journalism business since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 20,324 media jobs lost. The first few months of 2024 certainly don’t seem to be getting any better.
What Google appears to have created is an AI vampire, one that leeches content from other sites and synthesizes "articles" from the work done by its victims. It's certainly not going to save journalism and seems tailor-made to accelerate the loss of news jobs.
As Digital Content Next CEO Jason Kint told Adweek, “It’s hard to argue that stealing people’s work supports the mission of the news.”
What the article fails to mention are the biases in the sources that Google chooses as well as the biases in their AI software programming.
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